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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24504511">Time in a Bottle</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoNoKitiKiti/pseuds/NekoNoKitiKiti'>NekoNoKitiKiti</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ace Snufkin, Aged up characters, F/M, Family Fluff, Gen, Mumriks are forest children/forest spirits, Snufkin will have a child as well soon if I can make myself continue writing ajkskdkdkd, Snufkin-centric, Title may change at a later date, Woodies are baby wood nymphs, adult characters, chapter one is sweet toothrotting fluff, domestic found family, not in chapter one tho, other topics i wont touch until later chapters, there will be some angst, will there be plot? Probably not after the second or third chapter, with children!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:20:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,399</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24504511</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoNoKitiKiti/pseuds/NekoNoKitiKiti</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been about ten years since Snufkin had been in the Valley. It's time he went home.</p><p>There's been several changes since he left, all of them wonderful upon his arrival.</p><p>That feeling may sour, just a touch, the first few months he's home, however.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lilla My | Little My/Sniff, Mumintrollet | Moomintroll &amp; Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Mumintrollet | Moomintroll/Snorkfröken | The Snork Maiden</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Time in a Bottle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>'Where ya headed?'</p><p>Snufkin had met plenty of hemulens. There were ones he disliked, and ones he could tolerate, and some simply were.</p><p>The one offering a travel weary Snufkin a ride someways in the direction he was headed would probably be one he could tolerate. There were fishing supplies in the boat, and the gruffer tones in his voice reminded him of Mr. Hemulen when he became cross, back when they were all children in Moominvalley.</p><p>It had been a long time since he had been in that valley.</p><p>That would be fixed soon enough.</p><p>'There's a valley not too far up the river. Do you know Moominvalley?'</p><p>The hemulen considered a moment, then nodded his large nose to say he knew it.</p><p>Snufkin sighed in relief, and commented to the hemulen, 'You don't have to take me that far, just to before the Lonely Mountains. I'll walk the rest of the way.'</p><p>The hemulen cocked his head in concern. </p><p>'Ya sure? Dangerous paths up there, I'm told.'</p><p>Snufkin laughed a little.</p><p>'I'm sure. I've been making that trip since I was pretty young. It'll be good to walk through it again after so long, before I get to The Valley.'</p><p>And with that, Snufkin hopped in the hemulen's snug little boat.</p><p>It was nice to be off his feet for a while, watching as the trees and scenery became more and more familiar.</p><p>It wasn’t long before the hemulen asked if this was close enough to the mountains, and Snufkin hopped out of the boat and thanked him.</p><p>To most, the Lonely Mountains were a daunting task to climb, even by the trails and paths.</p><p>But Snufkin had been all over them, since he was nigh on eleven or twelve.</p><p>He wondered why he had never really crested them enough to find Moominvalley on the other side. It was several years after he began his explorations that he was stumbled upon by the Snorks, and then Moomin and Sniff.</p><p>And it had been nearly fifteen years now that he’d been welcomed into their large troll family.</p><p>As the paths became harder to traverse, he supposed he regretted being gone from them for so long.</p><p>He didn’t regret traveling, but he did regret leaving them, the worry they could have from him staying gone.</p><p>But as the moon hung its highest in the sky, he reached the highest point of his normal trail, and if he had been accruing regrets and sad thoughts on his ascent, they immediately fell away when he looked down and found the Valley just as it had been when he had looked at it one last time when he left.</p><p>He set out his bed roll and made a small fire for the remainder of the night, making coffee to drink with the beginnings of the last of his stock of bread and cured bacon.</p><p>He fell asleep recounting stars he had known for the majority of his childhood.</p><p>When he woke, it was to birds singing one of the songs he had written years ago. It was a favorite of Moomin’s, and was therefore one Snufkin had probably played more often than not on his way through the mountains.</p><p>After packing back up to be on his way, he slipped his harmonica out of his pocket.</p><p>If he were being honest, he hadn’t been able to play the first few months after he had left. It was all. Too raw, he supposed, not that his leaving had been at all bad. He simply found that he was overwhelmed at the realization he had left with the intention of being gone for several years.</p><p>He could recount every single one of the songs he had written for Moominvalley springs. He ended up playing all of them in order, and the birds sang along to each one, seemingly just as happy to see him as he imagined Moomin and everyone else to be to see him.</p><p>The wind that howled through the trees on occasion even seemed elated.</p><p>The closer he got to Moominvalley, the less tired he became, the calm energy of the forest and the excitement drove him.</p><p>He wasn’t too surprised when he continued on his way throughout the night, eager to reach the Valley.</p><p>It was well after dawn when he walked the dirt road down out of the mountains, and Snufkin came upon a field, one he and Moomin had known very well in years past. In it now, playing in the grass and chasing the spring butterflies, was a small. Moomin?</p><p>He called out as he cut through the grass to meet them. He had thought Moomin would have grown more than that since he left, but-</p><p>He realized this was not Moomin. This child was fluffier than Moomintroll ever was, with tufts of lavender fur at the longest bits of fluff, and lavender bangs. He had a silver ring around one of his wrists, and that struck a striking resemblance to--</p><p>The child piped up, giggling a bit.</p><p>'Are you looking for Moominpappa?'</p><p>Snufkin let out a sigh at having his train of thought broken.</p><p>'Yes, I suppose I am, dear.'</p><p>The child bounced along, happily showing him one way or another. All the while, he rambled about the valley in recent years.</p><p>At a point, he mentioned a 'Snorkmamma', and that made something click in Snufkin's head.</p><p>Oh.</p><p>Oh. He realized.</p><p>He had thought the child had meant... the Moominpappa that had raised him as well as Moomin. What he really meant was his Moomintroll.</p><p>A grin broke out on his face as he continued following the child. His Moomin and Snorkmaiden had made a family together!</p><p>The child didn't lead him on the same path he always took to Moominhouse, though he supposed that now there were two Moominhouses in the valley, but the one they were approaching was just as tall and blue as the one he had visited and slept in with his best friend on occasion had been. A bit closer to the beach and a bit more tucked into the thicket of woods than the first Moominhouse was.</p><p>The veranda was much the same, as well, and as they approached it, Snufkin could see an adult sized Moomin sitting there, cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other.</p><p>He felt winded when he broke into a run and shouted at the same time, the child whooping and running just behind him.</p><p>'Moomin! Moomintroll!'</p><p>The troll set down his tea and book immediately to snap his head in their direction.</p><p>'Snufkin? Snufkin!'</p><p>They met about halfway, squeezing each other tightly. There were perhaps a few tears on Moomin's end, and a great smile and a warmness at being home for Snufkin.</p><p>All the while, the child bounced around them, making elated noises that eventually caught Snorkmaiden's attention.</p><p>She came out of the house, asking what all the noise was about, and then ran to join the hug just as fast as Moomin had.</p><p>With his mother outside as well, the child became sheepish as young children often do, and pressed his face in his mother's side, whispering something muffled.</p><p>'Mamma, I found Uncle Snufkin.'</p><p>She patted his hair and giggled a bit.</p><p>'Did you, now?</p><p>'Well, it being almost lunchtime, I think proper reunions and introductions over lunch and tea are in order!'</p><p>The child rubbed his nose on his mother's side in an enthusiastic nod, and she laughed, herding him inside, giving Snufkin and then Moomin both a pat on the arm.</p><p>Left alone for a moment, they looked at each other and started laughing over nothing at the same time. They had to begin catching up on all the laughs they had missed together for the last several years somewhere.</p><p>Moomin wiped a laugh tear off his cheek and put a hand on Snufkin's shoulder to lead him inside.</p><p>'Oh, I suppose we should get inside. While Snorkmamma has softened up over the years, she still doesn't like when people keep her waiting. And Moominhouse! You remember the last time I tried building a house of my own!'</p><p>Snufkin tried stifling a snicker, but it didn't really muffle all that well. Moomin laughed as well.</p><p>'It was terrible. Good for a first try though, I'd suppose.'</p><p>They continued laughing and bickering as Snufkin dropped his heavy pack out of the way on the floor and laid his hat on the sofa for the moment. He's set up his tent later, perhaps tomorrow. Staying a night in his best friend's very own Moominhouse sounded like a good change of pace.</p><p>The layout of this house really was about the same as the one they had grown up in. Moomins were trolls of habit. He wasn't surprised to see Moomin had built it the same way. There were definite tells that he had built it with Snorkmaiden in mind as well, however, colors and decorative bits and the more lavishly designed furniture a bit more to her taste. It was still as comfy as a Moominhouse should be, though, if Snufkin understood the concept at all.</p><p>Stepping into the dining room, the little troll child was sitting at the table already, seemingly coloring and humming while he waited. Moomin ruffled his lavender tinted fringe as he passed him to the kitchen door.</p><p>'Go ahead and sit down, Snuff, you must be tired!'</p><p>Not that he felt he needed permission, but now that he thought about it, he probably would have continued following Moomin to help with lunch if his friend hadn't asked him to actually sit.</p><p>He sat down in a chair opposite the little troll, content with the silence aside from the child's humming.</p><p>Snorkmaiden came out of the kitchen a few moments later, carrying a tray of glasses and a decanter each of raspberry juice and blackberry cordial, little shortbread biscuits lining plates alongside them.</p><p>And then Moomin brought out a tray of what seemed to be their main lunch: broiled fish, and little vegetable sandwiches, fresh spring berries, and aromatic herb bread rolls.</p><p>As Snorkmaiden laid out plates and glasses, she looked to the little troll.</p><p>'You still haven't introduced yourself, have you, dear?'</p><p>The troll grinned and shook his head.</p><p>She laughed.</p><p>'Snufkin, dear, this is our little Snorkintroll!'</p><p>Snufkin took his glass of blackberry cordial and sipped it with a smile.</p><p>'He has your fluffy coat, Snorkmaiden.'</p><p>He winked at the little one.</p><p>'And his pappa's personality, from what I've seen.'</p><p>Both adult trolls laughed, and Snorkmaiden gave a Moomin kiss to her little one's head while Moomin confirmed it.</p><p>'He really does take after me, doesn't he?'</p><p>After they all laughed for a moment more, Snorkmaiden and Moomin popped back into the kitchen to get the last few things.</p><p>Snufkin blinked, and suddenly there was another small troll sitting at the table, just beside Snorkin.</p><p>She seemed soft and shy, a fuzzy round face with rosy cheeks and big emerald eyes. He ears were long and fluffy, and her hair fell down to her shoulders, softly curly and bright red. She reached across the table to the raspberry juice, and almost spilled it from being startled at the sound of the front door opening and a woman's voice.</p><p>'Snuffle, you ran off without tying your hair back again, silly child-'</p><p>In the doorway was a mymble, a bit smaller than usual, but certainly grown quite a bit since the last time Snufkin had seen her. Her eyes and face had grown into the inherent prettiness of mymbles, but she still wasn't as beautiful as their older sister.</p><p>They both shouted happily at the other at the same time.</p><p>'Snufkin!'</p><p>'Little My!'</p><p>He came around the table and they gave each other a great hug. My only came up to about Snufkin's chest. She really had grown quite a bit.</p><p>When My pulled away, she gave him a grin full of teeth that reminded him of when they were younger.</p><p>'Finally start to miss us, then?'</p><p>They both chuckled.</p><p>'Simply couldn't stand it any longer, dear.'</p><p>She laughed uproariously as she went up behind the little girl troll and began to pull her hair back into a bun.</p><p>'Well, things have certainly changed around here, if you haven't noticed. There you are, Snuffle, love.'</p><p>The resemblance suddenly struck Snufkin.</p><p>'She's yours? Who's--'</p><p>And the front door opened again, a deeper, frantic voice babbling.</p><p>'My, I couldn't find Snuffle anywhere!'</p><p>My tossed her response over her shoulder.</p><p>'She's in here, Sniff, it's alright.'</p><p>And before he was really in the doorway to the dining room, Sniff came right up to Snufkin, taking his paws in his own excitedly.</p><p>'Why, Snufkin! You're back!'</p><p>His fur had changed a bit; instead of the bright auburn it had been, it was now more of a sabley brown, and his whiskers had started growing in a bit fuller. </p><p>True to how he had always been though, as soon as he saw the little redheaded troll, he went straight to her.</p><p>'Snuffle, we were worried sick--'</p><p>My piped up, 'You were worried.'</p><p>'--You should at least tell us when you're going to the Moomins'!!!'</p><p>She blushed embarrassedly.</p><p>'But, Pappa, we always eat lunch with them...'</p><p>Sniff seemed to try and fail to find an argument to that. My just laughed and elbowed Snufkin.</p><p>'Sniff's too protective of a parent for his own good, huh?'</p><p>He was taken aback, really.</p><p>'I never would have expected you and Sniff.'</p><p>My scoffed. </p><p>'Well, really, who else was there in the Valley? I certainly wasn't marrying one of those uptight Fillyjonk boys.'</p><p>And at that, they both laughed.</p><p>Snorkmaiden walked back in with extra plates and glasses.</p><p>'I thought I heard Little My and Sniff. Sniffle My, would you like me to get out the blueberry juice? I know it's your favorite, dear.'</p><p>Snuffle blushed again.</p><p>'If it's not a bother, Snorkmamma, I'd very much like that.'</p><p>As Sniff and My found their own seats and Snufkin went back to his, Snorkmaiden set out the plates and glasses and ruffled one of Snuffle's ears.</p><p>'It isn't a bother at all, sweetie.'</p><p>With Sniff and My around, there was a constant buzz of chatter and banter now, Snufkin and the children content to simply sit and wait for Snorkmaiden and Moomin to come sit down. Snuffle placed her elbows on the table to prop up her head and watched Snorkin color silently. After a few minutes, the little lavender troll pulled a blank paper out of his stack for her and pushed his crayons between them.</p><p>Moomin brought out a large kettle of tea, and finally sat himself down next to Snufkin, greeting the two new adults to join their lunch.</p><p>When Snorkmaiden finally brought the blueberry juice and the napkins and silverware, they all finally turned their attention to the food, the smells seeming to be too much to leave be now. Snorkmaiden helped the children fix their plates and glasses before finally sitting down herself.</p><p>Perhaps Snufkin wasn't usually fond of others' cooking, but eating with the Moomins had always been an exception.</p><p>And it was certainly apparent that whichever of the trolls that had cooked had been taught by Moominmamma. The vegetable sandwiches, especially, made Snufkin think of her.</p><p>And now that he thought about it...</p><p>'Where are Moominmamma and Moominpappa, if I may ask?'</p><p>He had perhaps been worried there would be a quiet silence that followed, but Moomin laughed instead.</p><p>'Mamma and Pappa went off on an adventure not too long ago, in a boat that Pappa built last autumn for just the two of them. You really just missed them, Snufkin!'</p><p>He let out a bit of a sigh of relief. </p><p>'I can't wait to hear how their travels went.'</p><p>Sniff piped up around a muzzleful of herb bread.</p><p>'Speaking of travels, how were yours, Snufkin? You must have been just about everywhere with how long you were gone this time!'</p><p>My and Snorkmaiden agreed, and even the children seemed eager to press.</p><p>Snufkin couldn't quite think where to begin, however, and Moomin laughed good naturedly.</p><p>'Now, now, everyone, we all know Snufkin tells us about his travels in his own time! Let's just appreciate that he's finally home.'</p><p>And with that, they all happily decided to eat their lunch with idle talk and reminiscing childhood.</p><p>The children finished eating first. Snorkin seemed to favor the berries, and after shoving half a sandwich in his mouth, being scolded by his mother for being rude, and then shoving handfuls of berries in his mouth as his mother sighed, he wiped the berry juice off his paws and gathered up the pages and crayons under one arm and topped off his glass of raspberry juice to carry with his free paw.</p><p>Snorkmaiden called after him, harrowed.</p><p>‘Be careful not to spill your juice, Snorkin! Honestly, that child…’</p><p>Just a few moments later, Snuffle had daintily finished the last few bites of her sandwich, which she had carefully layered flakes of the broiled fish on, and had taken a napkin and placed two herb rolls and a couple handfuls of berries on, tying it into a little parcel to carry with her. She drained the last bit of juice from her glass, and barely made any sound as she pushed away from the table and began to pad to and up the stairs to join Snorkin.</p><p>My finished rather quickly as well, being ravenous as always. She seemed to slow down when she poured a cup of tea for herself and Sniff, though, pulling a plate of biscuits over for just the two of them.</p><p>The rest of them finished at about the same time, and Moomin rose to clean up all the plates as Snorkmaiden poured tea for the rest of them. Seeing there were some berries left, Moomin placed the bowl in front of Sniff, knowing he would finish them off.</p><p>It had been quite a while since Snufkin had had a nice cup of tea, in all honesty. Especially one with such good company. He accepted it gratefully and almost burned himself in his enthusiasm.</p><p>Snorkmaiden couldn’t help but snicker when she caught it.</p><p>‘Well, I know it’s been a while, Snufkin, but surely you haven’t forgotten how to drink tea?’</p><p>And that had Snufkin, Sniff, and My laughing as well.</p><p>‘You would think, wouldn’t you?’</p><p>Moomin stood in the doorway to the kitchen, drying his paws.</p><p>‘What’s so funny? Everything’s put up, dear.’</p><p>The troll sat back down, and Snorkmaiden gave him a lingering Moomin kiss when she came up to grab the empty berry bowl from Sniff.</p><p>‘I should go do the dishes then. Thank you, love.’</p><p>Little My finished her tea and looked out the window.</p><p>‘I guess Sniff and I should get going as well. We have to check on all of Mamma’s gardens and check on the house.’</p><p>Sniff nodded and hummed as if he had just remembered this, finishing off his tea and the last few biscuits on their shared plate.</p><p>As they stood up to leave, My continued.</p><p>‘We’ll be back, probably just after dark. Try and keep Snuffle here, if you can help it.’</p><p>And she looked at Snufkin with a soft expression.</p><p>‘And it really is good to have you back home, Snufkin.’</p><p>Sniff bobbed his head in agreement.</p><p>‘It really is!!!’</p><p>And with them off to check on the original Moominhouse and Snorkmaiden in the kitchen, that left Moomin and Snufkin alone once again.</p><p>This time it was a quiet, comfortable, companionable silence as they both drank their tea.</p><p>‘...Mamma and Pappa really went on an adventure? Even with how Pappa’s back acted up when we were children?’</p><p>And Moomin laughed once again.</p><p>‘They really did! They promised not to go far if they could help it. They said they’d try to be back by the end of summer.</p><p>‘If they had known you’d be back this spring, well… They may have postponed their little trip.’</p><p>Snufkin smiled into his cup of tea.</p><p>‘They’ll be happy to see me, anyway.’</p><p>The troll tried not to laugh.</p><p>‘I don’t know, Snufkin, Mamma may be rather cross that she only gets a few months to smother you.’</p><p>And with that, they both bust out in a fit of laughter again.</p>
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